Emphasis mineA mouse loose in a Somerset County house may have escaped injury early Tuesday morning, but a woman who lives there wasn't as fortunate.
State police at Somerset said 43-year-old Donald Eugene Rugg was attempting to shoot the rodent with a .22-caliber handgun inside the home he shares with 35-year-old Cathy Jo Harris, along Chicken Bone Road, in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, shortly after midnight.
As he fired the weapon, Harris reportedly walked into the path of the discharged round and was struck in the right arm with birdshot.
Police said Harris was transported to Somerset Community Hospital by her 16-year-old daughter. A spokeswoman at the hospital said yesterday Harris was admitted and listed in stable condition.
State police said no charges will be filed against Rugg in the incident.
State police Cpl. Robert Clark said that while it's not against the law to discharge a weapon in a home, police advise against it.
There were no telephone listings for Rugg or Harris, so attempts to contact him about the incident were unsuccessful.
Patti Dobranski can be reached at pdobranski@tribweb.com.
Seriously though, what kind of an idiot would walk in front of a weapon being aimed at something?! One has to wonder how many turnip trucks she fell off of....